About Mary Theresa Metzler, Esq.Mary Theresa Metzler’s entire legal career has been devoted to the field of labor and employment law. Ms. Metzler has practiced law as an attorney for the federal government, as in-house counsel, and as a partner in several prominent Philadelphia law firms. She is now engaged in a full-time arbitration practice as a neutral. At the Center for Dispute Settlement in Washington, D.C., Ms. Metzler completed intensive mediation training for professionals. Ms. Metzler has conducted seminars and trainings for the American Arbitration Association, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, National Academy of Arbitrators, and the American Bar Association.
After graduation from the University of Pennsylvania (B.A.), Ms. Metzler attended law school at the University of Pittsburgh (J.D.). She began her legal career working as a neutral for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Region 6 (Pittsburgh, PA) for almost nine years. She subsequently took an in-house counsel position and, after moving to Philadelphia, entered the private practice of law. She was a partner at Ballard Spahr LLP (management-side) for more than 11 years prior to becoming a full-time arbitrator and mediator in 2014.
During her tenure in private practice, Ms. Metzler negotiated numerous collective bargaining agreements, handled hundreds of arbitration cases and represented clients before the NLRB and the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (PLRB). While in private practice, she delivered oral arguments before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania and the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division.
Ms. Metzler is a member of the NAA and a Fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. For eight years she served as a Contributing Editor for The Developing Labor Law and has published several law review articles in The Labor Lawyer and the ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law.